Two Faced
by kriz-te
Summary: Her name is Julia Thorne. Or is it Sydney Bristow? ::Longer summary inside before prologue::
1. Prologue and Just Another Day

Thank you to everyone who has added this story to their alerts in the past year or so! Even though I haven't been updating, I have been writing and editing this story, so now it is time to begin posting again! I'm a little sad to have taken the older chapters down, but I felt it was necessary as I've reworked them and the scenes have changed subtly. I haven't changed any of the major plots, so this should still the be story you remember, and I hope you enjoy this version just as much, if not better than the original beginning. My plan is to update every Friday and I promise to respond to reviews. Feel free to ask any questions about the story and to bug me if I miss an update!

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**Two Faced **

Sydney Bristow or Julia Thorne? What's in a name?

by kriz_te

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from Alias (characters, plot points) is not mine.

Summary: Sydney Bristow was kidnapped by the Covenant who attempted to brainwash her into becoming Julia Thorne. They believed they succeeded as she became one of their best agents and assassins. What they didn't know was that Julia had never forgotten about Sydney's life and she wanted to get it back. But when the chance comes, will she really be able to give up the identity she has been immersed in for so long? Who is she?

_Please Note:_

About the dates, I assumed that seasons one and two covered about two years, excluding the memory loss time jump. Within the official show timeline, this story goes AU after Sydney is tested by the Covenant. So basically forget the waking up in Hong Kong with no memories stuff, but some information revealed in season three will be incorporated.

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**Prologue

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_Opening sentence of the May 2004 report sent to the Covenant leaders on Subject 47's treatment by Dr. Oleg Martijik:_

"I believe she has fully responded to the treatments designed for her and recommend proceeding to final testing at this time."

_Excerpt from CIA agent profile Bristow, Sydney A.:_

"November 18, 2004: In accordance with standard protocol, this statement is being issued to the effect that Agent Sydney Bristow is hereby presumed dead. Bristow has been missing in action for a year and no clues as to her whereabouts have been found since that time. Closure of Case File 114717B – Doren, Allison will also be effective immediately."

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**Chapter One – Just Another Day

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_**October 10, 2011**_

Her alarm clock was going off; she was awake but still in bed. Eyes open, staring out through her skylight at the predawn light gently illuminating the angel statue on the church across the street. All sorts of muted colors were reflected in the glass and she lay on the bed, almost relaxed after a night of troubled sleep. The alarm's beeps became louder and faster and she sighed before throwing out a hand to fumble for the button and turn the thing off.

In the sudden silence, she pulled herself together quickly and got up to exercise. Her usual two mile run through the mostly vacant streets of the city in the crisp morning air woke her up fully and then she spent the next forty-five minutes with her punching bag. All too soon it was time for a shower and breakfast. And work.

She never rushed getting ready. It was essential her appearance said only what she wanted it to. She carefully did her make up to look very natural even while highlighting her best features; cheekbones and eyes. She dressed in dark jeans and a deep red sweater. For shoes, she'd learned long ago that fashion alone never cut it. Soft tan leather sneakers were perfect.

Julia Thorne left her penthouse apartment and soon blended in with the crowd, moving with the same laid back pace. But she was always aware, her guard never down. It had always paid off for her to stay in a mental state of preparedness. She was ready when her beeper went off. Without breaking stride, she peeked at it, noted the number code signaling the meet's location and changed her course to go meet her handler.

It was just shy of ten minutes before she arrived at the Piazza Navona and spotted him. She paused in a shadow, observed the crowd for a moment, and then moved in to join him at the restaurant table, confident everything was normal.

"Good morning, Ms. Thorne," the Covenant agent said, folding his newspaper and setting it down to give her his full attention. She nodded in acknowledgement of his greeting and twitched her lips in a small smile.

"Hello, Savio. What do you have for me this time? Something more challenging than the last one, I hope." She'd returned from it only two days before, it had been strictly surveillance; nothing was more boring these days.

Savio smiled ruefully. He'd lost count of how many assignments he'd passed along to Julia since she had been sent to operate out of Rome. She was usually incredibly straightforward and professional, any deeper feelings were always difficult to pick up on, but having worked with her for as long as he had, he'd managed to observe some things he was sure he could interpret accurately.

Today, she'd actually called him by his name, no titles. She knew he was mostly just the middle man yet she hoped to appeal to him to give her a mission that actually challenged her. Thankfully, he did have something exactly suited to her. He hated to see her getting restless, yet he knew it meant she'd put her all into this one.

"Yes," he said, sliding the newspaper towards her, "You'll enjoy this one. Take your time with it, there is no pressing deadline. Check in procedures remain the same."

"Thank you. Just give me a week." She gracefully tucked it to her side beneath her arm and gave him another small smile and a look straight in the eye as she stood to leave. A waitress brought his coffee and he suppressed an involuntary shiver as he glanced at Julia's retreating back. What a dangerous woman, he was deeply grateful she was on their side.

She was leaving in opposite direction of the way she'd come. If Savio thought she'd enjoy this one, then it must be an assassination order. The type of work she knew she'd been recruited for in the first place. She could feel the disk in between the pages of the newspaper. It would have to wait until after she could pick up a few groceries, though.

Later in the evening, Julia sat on the sofa in her apartment, laptop on her legs. She had a desk here, but she preferred to use it for personal business. If she really needed to spread out for work, there was an office she leased in London.

She looked up from browsing through the information from the disk when a knock came at her door. Her tv was displaying her security feeds and it showed the man she was expecting so she quickly set her laptop aside and went to answer the door. On the way, she pressed a button under the table the tv sat on to switch reception back to normal.

A pleased smile was on her face when she swung the door wide. Simon Walker entered and took in the sight of her sweater, jeans, and now bare feet, and smirked in approval.

"Hello, sweetheart, miss me?" he immediately kissed her and she responded enthusiastically.

"Not so much," she replied after a moment, pulling back for some air.

"Right, you never do," he pretended to be hurt and she rolled her eyes.

"Doesn't mean I want you to leave," she whispered close to his ear.

"Not until you get what you want from me at least!" He smirked some more and pulled her towards the bedroom, both of them ready to forget everything else for a while.

**_~to be continued~_**


	2. Back to Basics

**Chapter Two ~ Back To Basics

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_**October 11, 2011**_

Julia was again on her sofa, one leg folded underneath her. She'd forgone the run this morning in favor of studying her next assignment some more. The information was very thorough. She'd been right, of course. A short flight and a few days were all she needed to see it through. The confirmation and details in response to her travel arrangement request had just landed in her inbox when Simon strolled out of the bedroom, still yawning. She hid a smile as he went straight to the kitchen and started making coffee.

"You certainly took your time waking up," she said as she closed the lid of her laptop and went to join him in kitchen. She pulled out cereal, milk, bowls, and spoons, and then settled in at the table.

"What can I say, I was completely relaxed," he grinned at her while shrugging with one shoulder. When the coffee was done, he brought two cups over.

Julia threw him a small smile, "What brings you to Rome?"

"The usual exchange of goods and payment," he nodded over to her laptop and papers in the other room, "What's taking you away from Rome?"

"A hit. There's a CIA agent getting too close to our operation in St. Petersburg."

Simon raised his eyebrows. "Really! They haven't sent you to take anyone out in awhile."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it."

"Someone you've run across before?"

She shook her head, "In reputation only, ever heard of a Jonathan Bristow?"

"Can't say that I have, love, but then again, I don't mess around with government officials quite as often as you seem too."

"That's true enough."

They lapsed into silence and finished eating. Julia then cleared the kitchen as Simon took a quick shower and gathered his things for his meet. She followed him to the door and they said a quick good-bye, not bothering to arrange when their paths would cross again.

_**October 13, 2011**_

She walked through the streets of St. Petersburg in the pre-dawn lamp light, highly aware of the small amount of activity around her. In her disguise, the people she passed assumed she was just another citizen on her way home from a night shift.

Julia had conducted her own brief surveillance the day before, as soon as she'd arrived. Nothing she'd observed had contradicted the information she'd been given. Her plan had finalized quickly and she'd used the cash she'd brought with her to book a cheap hotel room and buy a few articles of clothes to help her blend in. Earlier in the night, she'd made a stop at a Covenant storage facility to gather equipment and now she was ready to get into play.

The entrance route was coming closer. When she reached a narrow alley, she swiftly side stepped into it and walked faster through the maze of service access to the back of an office building. Her target would arrive here in a few hours. After a moment of observing the swiveling security camera, she slipped over to the stairwell door, pulled a set of lock picks out of the heel of her shoe and was inside in seconds. Closing it softly, she put the lock picks away and started up to the twelfth floor.

Her rubber soles made no noise on the medal treads and as she climbed, she put on a ski mask and paused to stash her jacket behind an air vent grill. She checked to make sure her gun had a round in the chamber and the silencer was secure. When she made it to the right floor, the door opened easily. Her target's office was only a hundred feet away.

Again, it was the work of moments to hook up her equipment to the keypad on the door and let herself in. It took two sweeps around the room and Julia knew how this would go down. She stood beside the hinges and waited.

**_~to be continued~_**


	3. Opportunity Strikes

**Chapter Three ~ Opportunity Strikes

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_**October 13, 2011**_

The door handle twisted as the person on the other side keyed in the code and walked in. Julia concentrated even harder on slowing her breathing until it almost stopped and standing perfectly still.

Jonathan Bristow opened the door enough let himself pass through and gave it a flick of his wrist to shut it behind him. He walked straight to his desk without looking around.

She slowly extended her arm, centering her weapon on his head but keeping otherwise still, waiting for him to notice her. When he was seated and finally looked up from the desk and saw her, he froze, staring.

"Good morning, Agent Bristow," Julia said casually. "Do you want to live?"

Her voice came out deep and metallic, thanks to the throat modulator in her mask.

He stared into her eyes for a moment, his face unreadable, before he responded.

"That would be… nice," said Jack, completely serious.

"You will continue to, if do exactly as I say. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

Julia gave him an appraising once over with her eyes to judge if he actually meant to cooperate before laying out her demands. He waited expectantly. She sharply nodded once.

"First, you will make me a copy of all the records you've kept and the reports you've made to the CIA since you began your assignment here. Now. And turn the screen so I can see. I've provided a small storage drive, it's under your keyboard." She had placed it there when she'd arrived.

Jack slowly complied, swiveling the monitor and inserting the drive into the side of it. All was silent except the click of typing and the mouse button as he entered passwords and set up the files for transfer.

"It will be a few minutes," he said blandly.

"I am very patient."

Silence reigned completely for a few tense moments until Jack made a move for the pistol stashed under the desktop. He almost had it completely up, but Julia had been prepared for this. She squeezed her own trigger the second his shoulder twitched, and so with a quiet spit, a bullet sailed straight into him.

He grunted and his weapon clattered across the desk to the floor before her.

"I expected that from you, Jack," she said, sounding a bit like a disappointed parent, as he grimaced and reached up to put pressure on the wound in his shoulder while eyeing his fallen gun. Julia walked out from the wall, kicked it behind her.

"I emptied the clip earlier anyway." She sighed, "I might as well tell you… I was sent here by the Covenant."

At hearing this, Jack blinked and looked little less sure of himself while a light of comprehension dawned in his eyes.

He took a guess, "Julia Thorne?" She didn't react. He continued, "Why didn't you just eliminate me when I came in and take the computer? I know the Covenant has people that could hack this hard drive."

"If it was as simple as wanting you dead, I actually wouldn't be here. You are correct, you would have been the victim of a simple assassination ambush. But bigger problems require my… finesse."

Jack kept silent, sat there looking resigned and slightly confused. He obviously didn't believe he would survive this encounter. She didn't actually expect him too, and it really didn't matter if he did, but if she didn't at least try to explain, it would make the rest of the day more difficult. Julia lowered her gun, but kept holding it in readiness, finger on the trigger, as she went on.

"The branch of the Covenant you've spent so much time gaining the trust of, it's not just any branch. It's more like the trunk. So imagine my leaders reactions when you were recognized by one of our members. A surviving agent from the failed Mexico exchange was at your last supply negotiation."

She saw annoyance and regret flash across his face and knew he'd just recalled the event five years past. There had been an attempt to trade a kidnapped CIA agent for Julian Sark, until they'd been ambushed and assumed it was a double cross. The resulting fire fight hadn't worked out well for either side. She didn't have to meet them to know that the two operatives who barely survived themselves would never have forgotten the faces of the agents that shot down the other three members of their team.

"I am here to send your superiors a message. But what my leaders don't know is that it's not in my best interests to kill you. I realize you have no reason to trust me on this, and I won't hesitate to put you down permanently if you become uncooperative, but I'd like to avoid that fate if possible."

Jack swallowed and looked at her curiously, "You need something from me."

She ignored him again, "Your escape is not an option. The Covenant will only send someone else to take you out after severely punishing me for failing my assignment. I am your only way to cheat death today, believe that and don't do anything stupid."

Julia kept her gun lowered and they stared at each other until Jack finally nodded. The computer beeped.

"Your files," he stated warily. She glanced at her watch and smiled behind her mask.

"Good. Second, you need to let the world think I killed you." She reached her free hand into to a vest compartment and pulled out a small detonator. She flipped the protective cover and pressed the red button. The security camera above the door shorted out and leaked thin strands of smoke.

_**October 14, 2011**_

The square around the Trevi Fountain was crowded with tourists at the time she'd asked Savio to meet her. She stood in a corner by a gelato vendor, enjoying her favorite lemon flavored treat, watching for him.

He appeared from behind a flower vendor bothering a man to buy the woman with hima rose. She smiled as Savio obviously scrutinized her, trying to figure out her mood.

When he'd reached her, she took her right hand out of the pocket of her jeans and palmed the drive and a key to him as they shook hands.

"It went well, I presume?" Savio asked as he deftly slid them up his sleeve, relieved to see a full smile on her face.

"Very well," Julia replied and glanced at his arm. "That's all the files and the key to where you will find confirmation of the other matter." She waited to see if he had anything else to say.

He smiled back at her, "Wonderful, take the rest of the weekend off. I'll contact you Monday."

She nodded and walked out of the small square leisurely. Savio smiled as she disappeared; relieved she was again in a good mood.

_**~to be continued~**_


	4. A World Apart

**Chapter Four ~ A World Apart**

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_**October 15, 2011**_

_He could almost see her face. He wanted to so badly, he was trying so hard to move closer. But the air was hazy and thick. Greyness obscured her features; they wouldn't come into focus. Still, he knew it was her. A feeling of danger arose within him as the haze grew yellow, orange, red, and hot. He tried to reach for her, but bright flames cut him off in a roar. In the light, her eyes suddenly captured him, crystal clear. They called to him, pulled at him, desperate. He tried to reach out again, but he was sucked backwards. She faded until the flames swallowed her completely and all sense of her had vanished. Heat and flames and he was alone._

Michael Vaughn jolted off his pillow, covered in sweat. Resting back on his elbows, he glanced to his right at the woman lying next to him. He heaved a sigh of relief, she wasn't awake. Carefully swinging his feet around to the floor, he braced his hands on his knees and took a few deep breaths. The clock read 2:47 AM.

He hadn't had a single nightmare about Sydney in three years. But now that he had, he wondered at how it could have possibly had taken him by surprise. Sighing, he took another look behind him at the woman's dark red hair fanned out on her pillow before standing up and going to the bathroom. He shut the door quietly and turned the sink on to splash some water on his face.

Natalie Paterson was an amazing woman and he'd come to love her deeply, but she would never be able to replace Sydney. And she'd never tried too. She'd stayed and helped him through a lot the nightmares when they first began seeing each other and he'd always feel a little guilty about it. But there was no doubt in his mind that Nat had come into his life at just the right time, in just the right way. He would be forever grateful it was their connection that had finally helped him find some peace and joy in his personal life again.

Staring himself down in the mirror, a bead of water hanging off the end of his nose, he thought about the ring burning a figurative hole in his dresser drawer. Vaughn had finally stopped just thinking about proposing to her and bought it two days ago. He had hidden it there, waiting for the weekend. Tomorrow evening he had a restaurant reservation and a couple other plans ready because he wanted to do the event justice. Nat deserved nothing but the best.

And now here he was, unwillingly flooded with memories of the years he'd refused to believe his first real love was gone, deluding himself following one barely feasible lead after another until he'd almost gone crazy. Holing up in his apartment just to stay in some level of intoxication or another, talking to Sydney like she was still there until she answered back. Jack Bristow had been the one to literally knock him to his senses. It had been slow and gradual, but he'd finally moved through the crippling grief and begun to live again.

In a way, it was simply bittersweet to get a reminder of all Sydney had meant to him. He smiled to let himself remember what she'd been like. She had always wanted the best for him, and he thought she would be glad for him if she could know what he'd gone through and see him now. True, Natalie's presence in LA had been partly because the CIA had needed to fill out the team again, but he felt sure if they had somehow been able to meet while Sydney was still around, the two women would have been friends.

He thought about how he'd resented Natalie and the other agent, Adam Mendoza, sent to supposedly fill Sydney's shoes the day she was officially declared her dead. He'd been so cold and shut down when dealing with them, and simply avoided them as often as he could get away with it.

The bed softly rustled, jolting him out of his thoughts and prompting him to hurriedly grab a towel, pat his face dry, shut off the light and return. He slowly slid back under the covers and lay there watching Natalie for a few moments, her face now turned towards him. It was a delicate face, so precious to him since he couldn't exactly remember when. Sydney had been the burst of fresh air and heart stopping light, Natalie was the bloom of a thousand tiny moments.

He decided not worry her with knowledge that the past had snuck up to haunt him for a few moments during the emotionally charged hours leading up to the biggest question he'd ever ask in his life. He was calm again now, seeing her smile in her sleep as he gently pulled a strand of hair away from being stuck to her cheek. It put the image of Sydney's eyes fully out of his mind and he fell back asleep peacefully, one arm around his future.

The buzz of a vibrating cell phone broke into their consciousness in the mid morning light. Vaughn tried to ignore it and tucked Natalie closer into his body.

She made a disgruntled sound and groggily protested, "Why do you never turn your phone off?"

He tried to distract her by nuzzling his face into her neck, but she twisted and reached a hand up to lightly smack him on the forehead while the rattle continued.

"Michael!"

He sighed, flopped over onto his back and threw out a fumbling hand to grab the noisy object. Glancing at the caller ID, he grimaced. As he'd feared, it was work. As one of the most senior CIA officers the LA branch had these days, being able to ignore calls and take a full weekend off was really just a theory.

He cleared his throat, "Hello."

"Agent Vaughn?"

"Yes."

"We've just received some intel that you'll want to see right away."

"You can't tell me now?"

"Director Kendall just ordered that you be contacted immediately. He said if you were reluctant, to tell you it's regarding Red Falcon."

That woke him up.

"I'll be right there."

He hung up and looked over at Natalie. She was watching him with her serious blue eyes and a slight frown. Sighing again, he cupped the side of her face and gave her a soft kiss.

"Something is happening with Jack, I have to go in. But I want you to know… I made a reservation for dinner tonight at 7, I promise I'll be back in plenty of time to make it. Dress up."

A delighted smile lit up her face and she leaned in for another kiss, "Really? It's been awhile since we've out somewhere nice."

"My thoughts exactly." Vaughn finally broke off the ensuing kissing and tore himself out of the bed with a regretful look. Natalie laughed as he did.

"At least I get to go back to sleep and you needed to brush your teeth anyway!" she called to his retreating back.

_**~to be continued~**_


	5. Curveball Number One

**Chapter Five ~ Curveball Number One**

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**_October 15, 2011 ~ Los Angeles_**

The report was waiting on his desk when he arrived at the CIA offices. Along with a note on the cover scrawled by Kendall's secretary telling Vaughn to come to his office when he was finished reviewing.

Vaughn sighed a pushed an empty coffee mug he'd forgotten to take care of out of the way as he sat down and flipped the file open. Almost immediately, he wasn't lounging in his chair anymore; he was sitting straight up, apprehension rolling over him in waves as he read.

Jack had missed his dead drop the day before, not enough to cause a panic by itself, but when the resulting rotating contact windows had also stayed silent, Kendall had ordered a quick reconnaissance. The agent had just reported back with what he'd found and it wasn't good news.

Vaughn hurried to Kendall's office, saw that he was alone and so didn't bother knocking.

"Jack Bristow's dead," Vaughn half stated, half asked for confirmation.

Kendall turned from his computer and sighed. "Yes, Agent Vaughn, I'm afraid so. Have a seat."

Vaughn slowly sat as Kendall flipped the switch to bring down the security shades and turn on the large screen behind his desk. A grainy picture of the back of a woman blinked on. She was dressed completely in black, wore a mask over her head, and had an equipment vest on, but the outfit was tight enough to reveal her gender.

"This is a screen capture from the security camera in Jack's office. I believe it's Julia Thorne."

"What?" Vaughn exclaimed, leaning forward in the chair, a sinking feeling settling in his chest. If Julia Thorne had carried out this hit…the implications were frightening.

"We can't be 100% certain, but it fits. As you well know, she is one of the Covenant's top agents and undoubtedly their top assassin. If Jack's cover was made, they would have sent her, no question. Plus in all the photos we've been able to get of her, she appears masked, as she does here."

Vaughn lowered his head to his hands as Kendall went on, zooming the photo out to show Jack seated at his desk. "The footage we recovered shows her arriving and casing his office before disappearing out of frame, Jack entering as normal some time later, and then she appears again. There is a short exchange, he downloads some information for her, she shoots him when he goes for his gun, more talking, and the tape goes blank. Which is another clue this is Julia Thorne; she has been known to cut the audio but let cameras record up to a point before disabling them."

A new picture, fully in focus, flashed on the screen when Vaughn looked up: Jack on the floor behind his desk, the chair toppled over as if in a struggle, his throat slit, splatters of blood on his clothes and a flow of it into the carpet, pooling under his body. Vaughn cringed and closed his eyes again.

"When will the team arrive with his body?" he asked flatly, numb. Kendall shook his head, turned off the screen and sent the shades back up.

"They haven't found his body. This image was on a disposable camera found on his desk. But the bloodstains were there, along with others that indicate he was drug around to the other side of the desk before probably being placed in a body bag. DNA confirms its Jack's. The camera footage is also still being analyzed, we'd like to know exactly what Jack was saying." Kendall paused, then softened his manner somewhat.

"I'm sorry, Michael. I know how close the two of you had become. You both knew how dangerous the mission to infiltrate the Covenant was, and I know neither of you would have even considered taking it on without the other. They wanted to send us a message to back off, but if they really think that was the way to go about making it happen, they don't know us at all."

Any bit of hope Vaughn might have harbored was gone, and when he looked back up at Kendall, he saw they were on the same page. The Covenant had only fueled their determination to take them down.

_**October 15, 2010 ~ Switzerland**_

Sydney Bristow paced in a wide airy hallway, hands deep in the pockets of her black trench coat. This country house in Switzerland had been purchased through several underground contacts barely three months ago using a completely new alias. She'd gone to great lengths to keep the records from being traceable to herself or to Julia Thorne.

When she'd first arrived in person, she retained only the basic staff and skipped right over introducing herself. They'd all given each other looks with raised eyebrows, then carried on with the business of cleaning and cooking and keeping the grounds as usual while simply addressing her as "Madam." The estate had become the only place she allowed herself to relax and exist in eight years. She was still worried about the risk of setting up such a haven, but knew it had become necessary if she was to retain her sanity. Now, she was extremely grateful her planning was proving useful for other reasons.

She stopped walking and took a deep breath, tears imminent, as she looked at the door in front of her. To enter would mean admitting to another person who she'd become, what she'd become. It would mean ripping someone else's perception of the world to shreds. But if she was ever going to get free of the Covenant, she couldn't pass up the opportunity fate had seemed to throw her way.

She took a deep breath and in one quick movement opened the door, stepped inside and quietly shut it behind her. She stood with her hands on the knob behind her back as the man sitting in a chair by the window with a bandaged shoulder looked over casually then did a double take and blatantly stared.

"Sydney?" Jack Bristow questioned with a whisper, and his voice broke. His jaw went slack in raw astonishment and disbelief.

"Dad," she managed to choke out before the tears started coming full force. He didn't question that it was really her, just stood and crossed the room in big strides to wrap her in a viselike hug.

"My god, how?" he asked but didn't wait for answer, "no, nevermind, it doesn't matter. I don't care where you've been or what you've had to do to survive. You're alive, that's all I care about."

She hugged him just as strong in return and once she had herself back under control, she pulled away and smiled at him. "We better sit down, Dad. I have a lot to tell you."

_**~to be continued~**_


	6. So It Begins Again

_**Chapter Six ~ So It Begins Again**_

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_**October 15, 2010**_

Eric Weiss was waiting in his office when he got back from meeting with Kendall.

"The rest of us were briefed about Jack while you were in there," Weiss said. "I'm so sorry, man. How are you holding up?"

"I don't know," Vaughn sighed and said flatly. "I don't think it's quite sunk in yet. There was no reason to believe he'd been compromised." He felt defeated as he asked, "What did I miss?" He leaned back on the edge of his desk with his hands at his sides and Weiss did the same beside him.

"Don't you dare think that this is your fault," Weiss scolded gently.

"Well, it's not like I'm uninvolved!" Vaughn snapped and stood up. "Jack asked me to be on the team, to be his handler. He trusted me, relied on me to have his back. And I have no idea how this could have happened, how the Covenant found out about him." He sat down again in his chair and put his head in hands.

"Plus," he hesitated but straightened up and decided he might as well tell his best friend. "Last night, I had a dream about Sydney." Weiss was visibly surprised.

"Wow, I thought those had gone."

"Yeah, it was the last thing on my mind, but then I thought maybe with the plans to propose to Nat tonight… I don't know, it does kind of make sense my subconscious would bring it all back. And now Jack's gone. It's giving me a weird feeling, like I just lost both of them at the same time."

Weiss was quiet for a moment, studying his friend, then he said, "So, is tonight still the night?"

"Of course, there's no way I'm putting it off!" Vaughn answered with a smile but dropped it quickly as he said, "I wish I didn't have to tell her about Jack too though." Weiss stood up with a smile.

"Good. I'm happy for you, man. Jack would have been happy for you, you know. He likes Natalie, although he'd never have said it so bluntly. For that matter, I know Sydney would want you to be happy too. Nat'll say yes, and you'll be there for each other like you always have been."

Vaughn half-smiled and said, "Thanks, Dr. Phil."

Weiss rolled his eyes, "I mean it. And seriously, Vaughn, there are four of us on the team. We all did what we could from this end. All of us are dedicated to figuring out how this happened and making the Covenant pay." They were both silent in their own thoughts for a moment before Weiss spoke up again.

"Go home, spend the day with Natalie like you planned, I'll finish up here and let you know myself if anything else comes in."

"Thanks, man." Vaughn said. He gave Weiss a firm pat on the shoulder as he left. As he headed back to his car, he was lost in thoughts of how he owed his life to Jack Bristow many times over and how no matter what Weiss said or Natalie would say, he couldn't imagine being able to shake the feeling that he could have done more to keep Sydney's father and one of his most trusted colleagues alive.

_**October 16, 2011**_

It was dusk when Julia walked back into her apartment in Rome and immediately took off her coat and shoes. She felt like smiling today, really smiling, something she hadn't felt like doing in a long time. She carried her bag into her room and spent the next few moments unpacking.

When she finished, she sat down cross-legged on her bed and stared up through the window at the stone angel. She wondered if Someone really had been watching over her lately and given her this opportunity. Wherever it had come from, she wasn't going to waste it. She hadn't dared to spend much time lingering in Switzerland, returning just shy of 18 hours away. Just because she hadn't seen Covenant agents watching the airport for her comings and goings in over a year, didn't mean they had stopped checking up on her completely.

But however limited of time she had allowed, it had been a profitable visit indeed. If there ever was a person who would appreciate the position she was in, try to understand why she'd done everything she had, and what she was attempting, Jack Bristow was that person. She was thankful he had accepted what details Sydney had been able to share and not press her further for more information than was prudent while sharing so much himself. Given his time among Covenant agents, she knew he would recognize how vital it was for him to remain in hiding and presumed dead for as long as possible. Until the whole organization was wiped out. Julia gritted her teeth.

Renewed in her purpose, Julia mentally renewed the information Jack had written down. She had privately committed it to memory and then burned the paper right before leaving the house. It was information that would help her start a chain of events that would hopefully set her free and end the Covenant.

She scooted off the bed and settled down at her desk. For the next couple of hours she strategized. Finally when she felt ready, she brought out her laptop and some other equipment and recorded a few phrases. It only took her a moment to do a little voice altering and the message was ready.

It was fully dark out by the time she had finished and started getting ready for bed. Standing at her sink, she eyed the prescriptions in her medicine cabinet as she put the bottles back. She had taken them dutifully for years. It hadn't mattered to her what they were supposed to be for, she would never know for sure whether they'd told her the truth or more likely, another lie, what mattered was that she knew if she hadn't broken eight years ago, even when she desperately wished she could, nothing would ever break her. Julia picked up her glass and swallowed.

_**~to be continued~**_


	7. The Meet Is Arranged

_**Chapter Seven – The Meet Is Arranged**_

* * *

_**October 18, 2011**_

After another swift exchange at the Piazza Navona in the morning, Julia spent her day prepping for the operation in a few days. It was not one she needed to prepare heavily for which she saw would leave her with a little window of time she was not going to waste. When it reached late afternoon, another busier time of day, she made a quick visit to a computer in the very back of a popular internet café a few blocks away from her apartment.

She uploaded the short message she had created to a specific server and input instruction for its delivery from there using the information Jack had given her. It was the only piece of information she had neglected to pass along to the Covenant in her report from her "interrogation." It was fortunate for her that his cover had been blown by sight and not from any communication interception and that the Covenant was more interested in where they had been compromised more than how he'd been passing the intel on or in his emergency protocols.

Her message sent, she pulled her USB drive out of the machine, left the café, and deftly tossed the small device into the traffic where a motorcyclist and then a bus both ran it over, shattering it against the cobblestones.

_**October 19, 2011**_

The light for his voicemail was blinking steadily when Vaughn arrived at his desk in the late morning. He yawned and set his briefcase down. He'd wanted to be there earlier but with the sleeplessness that came as a part of the grief over Jack, he simply felt grateful Kendall hadn't busted him on the tardiness yet.

He reached out and picked up the phone with one hand and dialed his voice mail with the other. He was sure it was just Natalie; she usually left him direct messages when she was on assignment and she'd left the day before. He smiled to himself, assuming he knew at least the general topic it would be on. Since she had said yes, she was a wealth of random wedding planning ideas she ran past him as soon as they occurred to her.

"I have information regarding officer 2300682. Confirmation: Russian Christmas. I will be in Venice, Campo San Polo, October 21, at one hundred hours, local time. Come alone."

Vaughn's smile was shocked away and thoughts of Natalie vanished. He quickly pressed the number to save the message and slowly placed the phone back in the cradle as he sank into his chair. Had he really just heard that? The voice was mechanical and obviously altered and the message was so short he highly doubted Marshall would be able to back trace it.

He stared at the phone and thought. He acknowledged that his immediate instinct was to follow the instructions. The thought that it was a Covenant set-up had to be considered, but whoever had sent it had Jack's correct officer number and password. Vaughn was positive Jack would never have revealed his CIA contact information and protocols unless he did it willingly. His wanted to take this person seriously; the possibility that Jack may have been able to get some last information to someone before the hit had to be explored. It was more likely one of a myriad of contacts Jack had made through the years.

Natalie was gone for a week, so he was good on that front and he would much rather ask Kendall's forgiveness later if it didn't go well.

Vaughn listened to the message again, wrote down the meet place and time to make sure he had it right, and then hesitated only a moment before deleting it. He left a message with Kendall's secretary that he would be out for a couple days following up a lead on new Covenant intel and left the building barely twenty minutes after his arrival.

_**~to be continued~**_


	8. No Turning Back

**Chapter Eight ~ No Turning Back**

* * *

_**October 21, 2011**_

She had left Rome by train only a matter of hours after she'd sent the message. It was a longer travel time, but had many more options for hiding in plain sight when travelling in country. She'd used the time to reflect on her memory of the city. Blending would be crucial. The Covenant didn't have many operatives in Venice because the canals were not conducive for the movement of anything but information or small cargo. However, that meant it was to the European cell's advantage to use the unique location for some of their most secretive exchanges and meetings.

Julia knew it was risky to meet a CIA agent here, but one thing had made her choose it: Venice was not a suspicious place for her to be. If she ran into anyone she knew, she would not have to explain her presence and they would be just as likely to want to keep an encounter short and forgettable. Even if someone were to observe the actual meet, they would not think twice, unless Agent Vaughn was also recognized. She wasn't sure whether she could realistically expect him to come to the city alone, but it really didn't matter, as long as he came to the meet alone.

She looked into the mirror of the vanity she was sitting at, scrutinizing her appearance. She'd had to really change it this time, adding subtle prosthetics to give her face a completely different structure. The highest quality contacts were making her brown eyes hazel and her straight black wig was probably the most secured down she'd worn yet.

Sydney Bristow could not be seen, and Julia nodded to herself in satisfaction. This would be enough.

Glancing at the clock, Julia saw it was just after midnight. After giving herself a last critical once over, she grabbed her overcoat and left the building.

She waited in a carefully chosen window, one level above the street, with a view of all the entrances to the square. The owners of the residence were conveniently absent and would never know she'd been here. The open square was quiet although not deserted, a few couples wandered through, some people hurrying alone to wherever they needed to be. She scrutinized each of them thoroughly, even though she recognized a couple of them from her previous stake-outs on missions past.

She had just checked her watch to confirm it had reached one o'clock when she saw him and her heart almost betrayed her. It thumped once, hard, memories she hadn't dwelt on in years trying to come flooding back, but Julia clamped down on them and forced them aside. Later, she told herself, later. She would be Sydney later.

She watched as he walked over to the fountain and looked around. She quickly went downstairs and left the building, letting the door lock behind her.

She walked slowly towards him, her heels dully echoing a clicking rhythm. Her breathing slowed to match her step and she felt like she was moving in slow motion. When she was close enough to read his face, she saw only curiosity and alertness. Then it changed slightly. She realized what she'd done. Her right hand dropped from behind her ear, a few pieces of hair clinging to her gloves until the last second. She kept walking until she was a few feet away and then stopped.

Now his gaze held mild suspicion as well. But oddly enough, now that she was here, it didn't matter. The first sighting was over and it was easier to be the person she'd become.

"Julia Thorne." He breathed it like a question and an instinctive statement.

"Agent Vaughn," she acknowledged. Her voice was quiet, but again metallic and grating. The modulation piece she wore around her throat was hidden by her scarf.

He stared as his jaw worked. She could tell her voice had unnerved him and of course, he thought she'd killed his agent and friend.

"You sent the message," he finally stated strongly, incredulously.

"Yes. And it's true." She plunged right in, "I have information for you regarding Jack Bristow. He's alive." She waited for his reaction.

He narrowed his eyes at her and went for a threatening look, "Don't play games with me."

"It's true. Remember the attempted prisoner exchange in Mexico back in 2005? NSA ambushed the party and ruined the whole thing, practically everyone on the ground died. Only one of our guys brought back the man our team had been sent to get, and he lost a leg doing it. I heard only Bristow made it out on your side. Too bad both men ended up around the same conference table a few weeks ago. The Covenant wanted him dead which means they sent me." She paused for effect. "But I faked it."

She saw hope flicker across his face before he spoke again.

"I don't understand. What would you get out of doing that?"

There was her opening. This either worked or it didn't.

"I need to take down the Covenant and I know how, but I can't do it alone," she said as matter-of-fact as she could.

"So you decided to save Jack to get on the CIA's good side," he mused in a slightly mocking tone, "So if it wasn't for his connections, you would have followed your orders, right?"

She remained silent and looked away at the nearest tree, letting him believe whatever he wanted. She would never make excuses for the choices she had to make in order to survive. To try to explain now would just confuse him and put her over the edge towards revealing too much too soon.

He laughed bitterly as he put more together for himself, "And of course you know that as much as I'd like to take you down right now, I can't. To my superiors, the chance of gaining a double agent as high ranking in the Covenant as you is too valuable."

She looked back and interrupted him firmly, "No, I am not offering to be a double agent and be under your orders. I will give you what intel I know that you need, I will tell you how to take down the Covenant, and I will be a part of the final force. And after they are gone, I want a full pardon."

"That's asking a lot," Vaughn sounded amazed. "Besides, I'm far from convinced you're telling the truth about Jack in the first place."

"I counted on that." Julia cast her eyes around the square, nothing seemed amiss, but she was not going to stand here any longer. She pulled out a business card from her back pocket and handed it to him. He looked at her gloved and outstretched fingers as if they were poison before gingerly taking the card.

"You can get confirmation of what I've told you about your Agent Bristow at the first number. Call the second when you agree to my terms. Both numbers will only work for the next five days."

She turned slightly on her heels and walked past him. She felt his eyes on her back long after she was out of sight.

_**~to be continued~**_


	9. Breakdown and Rebuild

**Chapter 9 – Breakdown and Rebuild**

* * *

**_October 22, 2011_**

Julia made one stop to her hotel room to pack up and then headed straight to London, not letting herself second-guess her previously made decision. She shifted her bag on her shoulder with one hand while ringing a doorbell with the other.

Simon smiled in approval when he saw her. He stepped back and held the door open wide. Julia didn't say anything, just returned his smile as she walked in and then dropped her purse and coat on the nearby sofa. Simon turned from shutting the door to find her already approaching. She swiftly pulled his face in and gave him a deep kiss.

"Straight to business as usual?" He managed to tease as he put his hands on her waist and guided her back to his bedroom.

"Of course," she breathed, ready to lose herself to a place that would ground her and reinforce who she was in the present.

Later, she lay on her side, the sheets draped over her waist, watching Simon pace as he took a phone call. There was nothing else on her mind but admiring the way he moved.

He hung up and came back to lean down and kiss her. "You had to come when I have a gig but you know you're welcome to join us; the team hasn't seen you in a while."

Julia smiled, "Thanks for the offer, but I'm just here for a breather."

He sighed and hesitated a moment before sitting down on the edge of the mattress.

"Do you want to stick around for three more days? I'll be back in two."

Julia searched his eyes for a long moment then sat up, nodding, "Yeah."

Simon smiled, kissed her again and went to pack. She contemplated him a little longer; fully realizing that although it was small, this was the first time they'd agreed on any sort of future plans together. She was suddenly overcome with a giggle and threw a pillow at his back as she rolled out of the bed, sauntering out to the living room to retrieve her bags. She needed a shower.

She left the bathroom door open and kept one ear tuned to the noises Simon was making. Closet doors and drawers banged; his cell phone rang again and she heard the murmur of conversation.

"Seriously impeccable timing, love, my ride's here," he popped his head around the jamb as she was toweling off. Securing the towel around her chest, she walked him to the door. He kissed her cheek, she squeezed his hand, he said "Cheers," and he shut the door behind him.

The empty and quiet was welcome. Julia locked the door and waited fifteen mintues just to be sure Simon had really gone before grabbing a bottle of wine and a glass out of the kitchen, and heading back to the bathroom. She ran the water into the tub as hot as she could stand it and rummaged in her bag until she found her bubble bath.

When the bath was ready, she slipped in slowly, the wine bottle in her left hand open, the glass in her right hand full. She would have found a way to do this before returning to Rome, but Simon didn't need to know this was the main reason she'd told him she would stay.

While she'd given up most of her personal preferences and crafted a persona more appropriate to her alias and what The Covenant expected, she'd decided that for the sake of her sanity, she could still indulge in an infrequent bubble bath. Sydney leaned her head back against the wall and slowly let her body relax and her mind wander back.

Her decision was made early on, as soon as she realized that even though she'd been pushed to the place where she wanted to, she wouldn't, no, couldn't be broken or brainwashed. She wouldn't call the CIA when she got out. She knew what Kendall would ask her to do and nothing was stopping her from taking it upon herself. It would be simpler this way. The thought of being an official double agent again sunk her heart. That had been dangerous enough at SD-6, doing the same with the Covenant would be even more so. It would be easier and safer for everyone she loved if she spied quietly on her own.

She had felt a lot more determined in the beginning, when she'd been newly established as an agent. The pressure to be convincing in her alias while learning as much about the Covenant as she could was all encompassing because anything could be important to making them pay for what they'd done.

But the years had passed, and she'd found herself truly becoming Julia, even while executing her own form of counter missions. She lived and carried out orders for her paycheck and her subtle intelligence stockpiling. Months started to go by when she never thought about why. Still, every time a face from her old life or the name she rarely thought of as hers surfaced in her mind's eye, she felt resolved and justified, even as she discovered reasons to embrace her new life and even enjoy it sometimes.

And now, after so long, she'd been able to completely shed this second skin of hers in front of her father and Sydney had roared to life again. Tears slipped down her cheeks and she noticed her glass was empty. She set it on the floor and put her face in her hand as the tears came faster now. Sydney felt the weight of reality. It had been eight years since her death, she would never be able to get her life back the way it had been. Too much time had passed, and she'd seen and done too much to be content even if it were possible.

She reminded herself of some facts. Michael had surely moved on by now. She wouldn't dwell on fact that he hadn't been wearing a ring, nor try to place when she'd even noticed that. Francie was dead. Will was dead. Her dad now knew the truth, but all the emotion of that reunion had drained her. She needed to turn that knowledge into a source of strength and be very careful about making return trips to Switzerland, none any time soon. She refilled and promptly drained her glass. The faint buzzing of her phone filled the air. She ignored it.

It was a waiting game right now. The more she'd learned about the Covenant's operations, how vast they were, how quickly they were expanding, where they were expanding, who was in the chain of command, she'd realized quickly that while there was a lot she could do to hamper them from the inside, she couldn't be in two places at once. She had just been putting her mind to the problem, when Jack had turned up. Sydney wondered at herself, that she could so be so calculating when it came to the value her father had in her plans. If the CIA didn't take this opportunity to work with her… she didn't want to think about it right now.

Sydney sighed realizing that even though she had reclaimed her name for this brief moment, her train of thought had bent back towards Julia's all too easily. She noticed the bubbles had deflated and her fingers were prunes. That was that then.

Julia pulled herself out of the tub and quickly pulled the stopper. The gush of draining water filled the air. Toweling off again, she retrieved her phone and listened to the message from the British Covenant section acknowledging her earlier check in. She'd alerted them to her visit after she'd made it into to the city. Savio would always be her handler, but she'd also won a fair degree of autonomy to lend her skills across the European cell as she wanted when she wasn't under superseding orders.

She set her phone down on the counter as she entered the kitchen and rummaged for something to eat. Focus, she thought forcefully as she started slicing bread for a sandwich. This life as Julia Thorne was the means to getting free to be whoever she wanted someday, one way or another Julia would make sure that happened.

**_~to be continued~_**


	10. Unexpected Confirmation

**Chapter 10 – Unexpected Confirmation**

* * *

**_October 22, 2011_**

Vaughn dialed the first number from a payphone in LA the subway soon after his arrival back in the states.

"Yes?"

His hand tightened around the receiver and his throat closed up at the voice.

"Oh my god. Jack?"

"Good. Michael." Jack said rather brusquely, even though he was smiling to himself on the other end.

"Jack. I don't believe it."

"Try me."

Vaughn was silent for a moment. He remembered the cadence of Julia Thorne approaching, watching her fingers moving to tuck her hair behind her ear, both eerie reminders of the lowest point in his life. Had it been calculated? To what end? How much could she possibly know about Sydney's mannerisms? He didn't doubt that she'd done her homework on himself and Jack and would at least know the basics about Sydney as well. There was a high chance could this phone call was a trick. He decided on the test.

"March 17."

Jack's voice became softer. "When Sydney's case was closed, you changed. Became more and more reckless on missions, more and more insubordinate, disappearing for two or three days at a time, coming in hung-over and wouldn't listen to any of us that pleaded with you to take a leave and get yourself together. That night, I found evidence that you were still investigating her disappearance under the radar, and I went to your apartment. You were drunk, and talking like she was right there in the room with us. When I tried to get you to sleep, you tried to punch me. I punched you out cold. Early the next morning you were up with a black eye and an indignant attitude. I challenged you to a spar. You agreed that if I won, you'd take a six-month leave. If I lost, I'd step back. I won, and six months later you thanked me for it."

Relief and amazement had begun to creep over Vaughn as Jack had talked. Still, there was one last detail to be confirmed.

"What else did you take in the wager?"

"The ring you'd bought for Sydney that you'd had on you the night of the apartment fire and had carried since."

Vaughn closed his eyes as the lump in his throat grew. "Jack," was all he could manage to get out.

"What matters is when you came back to work, I actually started to like you," Jack admitted gruffly.

Vaughn couldn't stop his sarcastic chuckle, "Yeah, a lot of good that brought me."

"Michael, listen to me, I can't stay on the line much longer. If you've ever trusted me before, trust me on this: Julia wants the Covenant to go down just much as we do. However you can, convince Kendell to let you call the other number she gave you and agree to work with her. If you don't, it probably won't end well for any of us."

Vaughn digested that statement before asking, "Can I reach you at this number again?"

"No. It will be disconnected."

"So…is this is? Are you sure you're safe?"

"Yes and yes. I'll tell you one last thing: be careful who you discuss this with, the Covenant has ears everywhere. I can't stress how important is it that Julia not be compromised. "

Vaughn was at a loss for words. "Thank you, Jack," he managed.

"Goodbye, Michael."

The line died, Vaughn replaced the phone in the cradle, and slowly walked back to his car in a dumbfounded daze.

_**~to be continued~**_


	11. Picking Up Speed

**Chapter 11 - Picking Up Speed**

* * *

_**October 23, 2011**_

Vaughn was in Kendall's office before it was light out. The janitor crew was just finishing up and only a handful of agents were around the complex. It was the best time to have the long conversation about the highly risky proposal of working with Julia Thorne.

After he finished recounting his past 72 hours, there was silence for a good long moment.

"That was your new lead?" Kendall stared at him with a dumbfounded look Vaughn recognized because it was also still his own.

Vaughn just nodded.

"This isn't just a lead, this is a whole new ballgame!" Kendall practically barked, leaned back in his chair, looked out towards the open office area and the empty agent desks and dim lighting, and ran his hand over his head.

Vaughn decided to remain quiet. The silence stretched some more while Kendall processed everything he'd just been told.

Finally, Kendall sat forward and looked back him.

"I'm having a hard time believing it's legit," Kendall started but trailed off, "and yet…"

"If we don't at least check it out further and agree to work with Julia, we're pretty much dead in the water regarding the Covenant," Vaughn finished for him. "I know, sir, it's all I've been thinking about since I got the voicemail."

"You're sure it was Jack?"

Vaughn had never heard so much hope in Kendall's voice before. He cracked a grin, "I don't see how our conversation could have been faked. It was his voice for sure, and yet that much at least could be replicated. But he also knew details from events only a few people know, his word choices and sentence rhythms were the same, he used a code phrase we'd used on an old mission. We both know Jack would never have revealed his current security information under torture. I believe it was him, but we should still be very cautious."

Kendall had a fixed speculative gaze on him and Vaughn held it right back.

"Okay," Kendall said with a quick nod of his head, leaning back in his chair again.

"You can move forward with this, but..."

"I'd like Eric on the team," Vaughn quickly asked.

Kendall nodded again. "Fine, but only you two. Pull together the mission file, contact Thorne, and I'll contact the DCIA and see what I can get started in terms of the pardon. It definitely won't be granted until we have a solid reason to do so."

"That is an interesting thing to demand…" Vaughn mused out loud, "as far as we know, Julia Thorne has never operated within the US, so why would she feel she needs one?"

Kendall gave him another weighty stare, "Keep a close eye on her. One hint we're being played, one whiff she isn't keeping her word, and I'm shutting it down." Then he gave Vaughn a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Understood, Sir." Vaughn stood and went to call the second number on the card.

_**~to be continued~**_

_Author's Note: _

_I just want to say a quick thanks to the people that have taken the time to drop a review, as short as they may be! I started thinking about this story while Alias was still airing, and it's funny to me that what was set in the future when I began it is now set two years ago! The end may be a long time coming, but I've never been able to fully abandon this story; it's pretty nostalgic and close to my heart and I have fun thinking of ways to weave in little elements I liked about Season 3 with where I wish the season had gone. Thank you so much also, those of you readers who have this story in your alerts, I hope the wait for more continues to be worth it. ~kriz-te_


	12. A Day At The Office

** Chapter 12 - A Day at the Office**

* * *

**_October 24, 2011_**

Julia looked around her London office in the early morning light. It was pretty generic, anyone walking in would have hard time discerning exactly what kind of business went on here. Although they would be able to tell it hadn't been used in a while, there was quite a lot of dust. Julia forwent the regular building cleaning staff services and only called them in to tidy up if she was using it as a meeting place.

She flipped on the lights, pulled up the blinds and looked down into the busy street. This building was about as anonymous as it could get, with plenty of daily traffic passing it by, no one giving a second glace to just one of the cogs in the city's wheel works. Being here made her a little nostalgic, in fact, for it had once been heavily used.

It was the perfect place to hide right under the Covenant's nose. After passing their test to gain her freedom from the doctors and work for them, they'd placed her here in London. Two years later they'd told her to pick out her own office and started letting her leash out a little more. That early microscope had both energized and grated on her. Now, she was grateful for it. They'd been patient, but she'd been even more determined to wait them out for they longer they'd made her prove herself just meant the greater things they were eventually willing to entrust her with.

This office was the first proof of that. When she'd been transferred to Rome, she'd finally started keeping her own hard intel right here. In the form of journals, written in a code she'd made for herself. She couldn't keep everything in her head forever, so she'd started writing the key pieces of the puzzle down, the things that she knew would be important someday, but not exactly how.

Those journals were the perfect place to begin to gain the CIA's trust. She went over to the wall behind her desk, and as any spy who entered the room would have guessed, there was a safe behind the painting. This was the safe the Covenant knew about. What they didn't know was about the one in the floor below it. She had installed the second one personally, right before her move, two months after she'd checked that the last of the bugs keeping tabs on her had finally been removed.

She squatted to the floor, slid the decorative table out of the way, and popped off the false air return cover. It wasn't a super high-tech safe, but it did require both a fingerprint and a passcode. Soon she was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs back by the window, thumbing through the pages, writing notes she would later type up.

The day passed pleasantly enough while she pulled together what she needed, plus consulted over the phone for a few local Covenant operations, and finally reviewed a few status reports from agents continuing long-term missions she'd begun. At the end of the day Julia felt satisfied with her progress on both fronts and left the office with a thin manila envelope tucked under her arm. It was also a little nerve-wracking, she admitted to herself. She couldn't give the CIA the actionable intel immediately, the whole situation would get entirely out of hand. There were only a couple of times a year, if that, when what she meant to do would be possible and she didn't trust Director Kendall to be as patient as they needed to be.

But she still had to give them something real, something to convince them she was serious, to make them take her seriously and actually listen to her, not try to handle her.

She hoped what she was sending them would do just that. She made her way back to Simon's the way she'd came: doubling back, switching taxi's, changing a hat or a shirt in known CCTV blind spots. Miles away from anywhere she frequented, she finally dropped the envelope in a mail box, no return address on it, and prayed to whoever was listening that it made it to it's destination unhindered.

_**~to be continued~**_

_A/N 8.20.13 - thank you so much everyone who is reading and for the reviews the past couple months! I do keep plotting away at this story, but the writing does continue to happen at a trickle! I seriously doubted whether anyone would keep reading Alias so long after the show has finished, and it's nice to find there is still an audience! If you keep reading, I'll keep writing, and I appreciate the encouragement and kind words a lot!  
_


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